Rapper Freeze Corleone targeted by investigation for “apology of terrorism” after implicit reference to the Nice attack

In his song “Haaland”, the French rapper seems to allude to the attack on the Promenade des Anglais, which left 86 dead and hundreds injured on July 14, 2016.

Several local elected officials expressed their indignation on social networks. The Nice public prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation for “apology of terrorism” against the rapper Freeze Corleone, who seems to evoke in a new song the attack committed on July 14, 2016 on the Promenade des Anglais, declared the prosecutor, Saturday February 10.

In the song Haalandperformed as a duet with rapper Luciano and released on Thursday, a passage seems to allude to the attack in Nice, which left 86 dead and hundreds injured. “In defense I’m Kalidou, you’re Lenglet. Burberry like an English grandfather. I arrive in rap like a truck bombing hard on the…”raps Freeze Corleone without finishing his sentence, in an implicit reference to the terrorist’s modus operandi and the location of his act, the Promenade des Anglais.

A “horrified” victims’ association

“This is an initiative-driven investigation”, specified the Nice prosecutor. The founder of the victims association Life for Nice, saying “horrified”had for his part instructed his lawyer to file a complaint for glorifying terrorism.

Eric Ciotti, president of LR and deputy for the 1st constituency of Alpes-Maritimes, estimated on (ex-Twitter) that a “new step towards infamous has been taken”. The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, spoke on the social network Threads “a despicable provocation”.

A prominent figure in French rap, Freeze Corleone had already been the subject of an investigation in 2020 for “provocation to racial hatred” after the broadcast of clips including lyrics such as “I arrive determined like Adolf in the 1930s” Or “every day RAF [abréviation de “rien à foutre’] of the Shoah”. The investigation was finally closed, but he was let go by his label Universal Music, which had denounced “unacceptable racist comments”.